


The Good Luck Charm

by fazcinatingreads



Category: Women's Netball RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fazcinatingreads/pseuds/fazcinatingreads
Summary: Tom Phillips wears his good luck charm to the netball Grand Final. Will it be enough to get the team over the line?





	The Good Luck Charm

"You have to wear it," Kate Eddy was saying, standing next to Tom Phillips as he stood in front of the mirror, a frown on his face.

"It's so tight though," Tom whined, pulling at the fabric around his stomach, "it shows up every bit of pizza I ate last night."

Kate just laughed. "You look great," she said, "It brings out the green in your eyes."

Tom sighed. "And you're sure it won't bring too much attention?" he said, for what felt like the billionth time.

"Of course not!" Kate said, "There were heaps of guys in the swifts dresses at the grand final last year. That's what got us over the line."

Tom smiled at his girlfriend. "I guess you know best," he said, "Out of both of us, you're the only one with a winning grand final record."

"Hopefully I get on court this time," Kate replied.

"You will," Tom said, kissing her on the cheek. "You'll be fine."

Tom slung his cardigan over the dress, and Kate, already in her vixens tracksuit, grabbed her sports bag and they headed out the door. Kate was jittery and nervous, trying and failing to visualise what would happen today. Her team, the Vixens, were a very good outfit, but up against the West Coast Fever? Who knows. They had a really strong attacking end, with Fowler able to catch anything, and of course their GA was a little pocket rocket. Kate had been admiring the work of Alice Teague-Neeld for years, ever since her days as a magpie. She was glad Alice was getting more court time at Fever than she did at the pies.

As Tom and Kate boarded the team bus outside the hotel, Kate looked around at her teammates. Caitlin Thwaites and Tegan Philip were up the front, smiling and laughing, like always. She will miss them after today. It was such a huge loss for the netball world to lose these shining lights, not only impacting the Vixens future, but also the Diamonds. They've left a huge legacy and it'll be hard for the next GS and GA to fill their shoes.

There were other HABs on the bus, but much to Tom's disappointment, none of them were wearing a vixens dress. Tom scowled the whole way to the Nissan Arena.

...

During the game, it was intense, close, and nailbiting. Tom sat with the other vixen HABs in a special roped off section, all of them very nervous and sitting on the edge of their seats. The camera was right in front of them pretty much the whole time, and even though Joshi and Adam were the partners of the retiring superstars Tegan and Caity respectively, Tom felt like the camera was on him mostly. Especially every time he'd cheer loudly and jump up when Kate got an intercept. Please not let them show this on TV. Or maybe it was a good thing, maybe Collingwood will see his dedication and enthusiasm and be more inclined to keep him. He prayed with everything he had that they would reward him with a 5 year contract extension.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Vixens girls jumped into the air, hugged, and rolled on the ground in a heaping mass of bodies. They cried with exhilaration and joy, while the HABs smiled and nodded at each other, unsure whether to high five or not. Tom didn't really know any of them, and this was the first time all year he'd been to a game with them.

Tom watched as Kate hugged all her teammates, tears pouring down her face when she got to Tegan and Caity. Then she found Alice sitting on the ground, looking forlorn, and gave her a hug too.

The Channel 9 crew were on the court with microphones, and one of them interviewed Kate on the big screen.

"Your first grand final win," the interviewer was saying, "You nearly didn't get up for it with that troublesome ankle. What got you over the line?"

Kate gave a big grin. "Seeing my 6-foot 76 kg boyfriend in the vixens dress is enough to cure anything."


End file.
